A GREATER FORCE PT. 5
‘Hey kid,’ a familiar voice called as Luke practiced his levitation techniques. Artoo gave a shrill cry as Luke lost concentration and he landed with a thump. Han quirked an eyebrow then patted the dome of the little droid, ‘Sorry short stuff.’
‘Hi Han,’ Luke replied trying to stifle a laugh at Artoo’s continued indignant warbling. He and the little droid had been through a lot over the years and if it was possible to love a droid Luke would have to admit this little scrap of metal and electronics held a special place in his heart.
‘What can I do for you?’ Luke asked eyeing his brother-in-law.
‘Actually I need to take a run out to Endor to collect those dreadnaughts Karrde sold us and I thought you might like to come with me,’
Luke could not help shuddering at the memories of Endor, the death of Palpatine there had left a dark place in the force. Han watched his face guessing what was going on in the younger man’s mind. Han had spent most of his adult life living by the seat of his pants and had managed to escape death on more occasions than he cared to count. He also knew he had never had to cope with the type of mental and emotional pressure that Luke had dealt with the last few years. His admiration for the young man he saw as a kid brother had grown enormously after he witnessed the battle with Luke’s clone on Mt. Tantiss. Personally he could not imagine the terror of battling a personal replica particularly as Luke had done without the force. Although Han still did not completely understand the force, he had seen enough incredible things done to and by his wife and her brother that he now believed it was real. He could fully understand Luke’s reluctance to go back to Endor but he knew he would have to face his fears sooner or later.
‘Kid, he’s dead, he can’t hurt you anymore,’ Han said finally.
‘I know that,’ Luke replied softly.
Luke also understood that this was a memory he had to lay to rest. He could not teach his students about the importance of mastering personal demons when he still battled one himself. Finally squaring his shoulders he faced Han.
‘Sure, I’ll go with you.’
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The Millenium Falcon came out of hyperspace and there before them was the mottled blue and green world of Endor. A questioning Wookie rumble sounded as Han brought the ship to a stationery orbit outside Endor’s atmosphere. Han looked sideways a his co-pilot a wry smile on his face;
‘No Chewie, we don’t have time to go visit the little fuzzballs.’
An annoyed growl replied,
‘Yeah, I know you like them but we are here to pick up the ships and that’s it.’
He glanced out the transparisteel canopy at the five dreadnaughts hovering in Endor’s orbit. These ships had been operated by clones during Thrawn’s final campaign against the New Republic. Han could not help but give a shudder at the idea of mindless, soulless individuals flying spacecraft. He turned his head to look at Luke sitting behind Chewie and frowned. Luke was ashen faced staring out the canopy at a space just outside Endor’s atmosphere. A space that had been occupied by the second death star. The death star they had managed to destroy before its completion. The destruction of which combined with the recent assassination of Grand Admiral Thrawn by his Noghri bodyguard that sent the empire scurrying in defeat to the far reaches of the galaxy. He reached back and shook Luke’s arm trying to bring him out of the daze he seemed to have fallen into.
‘Come on kid, we need to check those ships then tow them back to Coruscant.’
Luke nodded without tearing his eyes away from whatever he was seeing.
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A short time later they had locked the falcon’s transport tubes to the main hatches of two of the dreadnaughts. Han squeezed Luke’s shoulder as they rode the turbolift to the falcon’s main hatch;
‘This won’t take long, kid. You check the one on the right and me and Chewie will check the other one, okay?’
Again Luke nodded in silence Han frowned at him, now wishing he had not convinced Luke to come. But what harm could he come to checking some deserted ships then returning them to Coruscant?
Luke found himself walking slowly through the empty dreadnaught his lightsaber held ready in his hand. The ship was still and dark, with no sign of its nonhuman crew that had operated it. Yet something niggled at Luke’s mind, a presence that did not make sense in this abandoned ship. He slowly approached what would have been the command centre and pressed the door release half expecting it to not work. The door slid slowly open and the nagging twinge in Luke’s mind exploded into full blown horror. Standing before him wearing a disdainful smile was his worst nightmare. Palpaatine.
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Mara sat at the control panel in the Wild Karrde’s command pit. The ship was running smoothly as it made its run to Kessle. Yet something wasn’t right, it was a feeling in the force, a feeling of danger. Suddenly Mara gasped clutching the hyperdrive lever and pulling the ship out of lightspeed before wrenching the wheel to the right spinning the ship in the opposite direction. All around her crew members called out as they struggled to maintain their balance in the suddenly tilting space yacht.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ the normally calm Aves yelled.
‘We’re going to Endor.’ Mara replied tightly.
‘Oh no we’re not,’ Karrde spoke from over her shoulder reaching forward to grab the wheel. A hand locked around his wrist and the next moment he was staring down the barrel of the small blaster Mara carried in her sleeve.
‘We are going to Endor.’ Mara spoke slowly and softly, contrasting with the rigid grip she had on Karrde’s wrist and the fire blazing from her eyes. Karrde pulled his hand free and raised both hands in surrender. Whatever had gotten into Mara clearly was enough to make her threaten his life. Karrde nodded in silence searching Mara’s paper white face for a possible explanation.
How could she explain to him the scream of terror in her mind that drove every other thought from her. A single phrase kept circling over and over in her mind, ‘he must not die!’
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Han heard Luke yell and found himself pounding toward the other dreadnaught his blaster drawn. A wookie war cry sounded behind him as heavy foot falls followed in his wake. He reached the hatch of the second dreadnaught and paused his back against the opening, a chill raced up his spine, the only thought that kept him focused, ‘please be okay kid, please be okay.’
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On Coruscant Leia shocked everyone at the council meeting by suddenly crying out and bolting from the room. Her aide Winter hastened after her glancing apologetically at the stunned face of Mon Mothma.
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‘Welcome young Skywalker’ Palpaatine spoke against every modicum of sense and reason, ‘I am pleased to see you again.’
Luke ignited his lightsaber and cautiously moved into the room trying to ignore his pounding heart and the icy sweat running down his spine.
‘You cannot be alive,’ he croaked out finally.
An eyebrow lifted in response that disdainful smile returning, ‘My young apprentice you are yet to learn the power of the dark side.’
The emperor raised a casual hand and Luke felt his lightsaber fly out of his grip switching off before landing neatly in the outstretched hand.
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The Wild Karrde came out of hyperspace. Before them was the Millenium falcon hovering in its stationery orbit outside Endor, its transport tubes connected to two of the dreadnaughts. Mara gazed at the dreadnaught on the right as a voice echoed in her mind;
‘Welcome home my loyal hand.’
She shook her head, this could not be happening.
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Leia sat in front of the communication console in Coruscant’s control centre. She tried to stop her hand trembling is it clutched the microphone,
‘Millenium falcon this is Coruscant control centre. Please come in Han, please!’ the ripple she had felt in the force during the counsel meeting filled her with terror. She remembered the feeling when she had been in the Mt. Tantiss throne room. The strange pulling sensation she had felt in the presence of the insane clone Joruus C’boath. That was nothing compared to the abject terror she felt right now.
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Mara tried to control her pounding heart as rode the Wild Karrde’s turbolift down to its connection in the Millenium Falcon’s upper hatch. The voice of her old master coupled with the terror shrieking through Luke’s force sense drove her finally decide that Luke was all that mattered now. She knew she could face Palpaatine without fear of being pulled back into his control. Behind her Karrde watched her silently, at his feet sat the pet vornskr’s he had brought from Myrkr. The remarkable predators that hunted using the force. Durm and Strang strained at their leashes, their bodies quivering. Whatever they were heading toward had huge power in the force.
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Luke stared at Palpaatine in horror, he was now unarmed in the presence of the evil despot who had tried to kill him on the death star. How was this possible? Then a realization that he was facing a clone made him even more terrified. It made sense that Palpaatine would have cloned himself after all the cloning tanks had been under his control in Mt. Tantiss. Another sensation touched Luke’s mind gently, ‘I’m here Luke.’ It was Mara.
‘Ah, so my hand that you corrupted has come to your rescue young Skywalker,’ Palpaatine smiled clearly reading Luke’s thoughts. ‘Excellent’
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Han and Chewie hesitated outside the control room door. Memories of the Mt. Tantiss battle surfaced in his mind. Charging in there with his blaster blazing had only gotten himself almost killed. A sound distracted him. He looked up in shock to see Mara Jade and Talon Karrde slowly approaching. Karrde was leading those pet vorskr’s of his. What in all the galaxies was going on in there?
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The door behind Han suddenly slid open and a greenish glow flooded out of the control room. Mara paled and stared in horror at the scene before her.
Luke was standing in front of Palpaatine, his face turned in horror towards his friends.
Palpaatine laughed softly, clearly pleased at how easily they had fallen into his clutches. Mara could feel his presence creeping into her mind, clenching her teeth she focused on the force and threw up her mental barrier forcing him out of her mind. Suddenly a clenching pain shot through her and she felt herself hurled across the room, slamming into one of the now dead computer terminals;
‘Mara!’ Luke cried out lunging toward her. Palpaatine’s other hand turned to Luke pinning him against the rail circling the crew pit.
Palpaatine laughed softly clearly enjoying himself thoroughly. Mara blinked slowly regaining consciousness as she felt the trickle of warm blood down her cheek from her temple that had struck the corner of the terminal. A loud snarl suddenly sounded and the pair of vornskrs leapt toward Palpaatine their huge teeth bared. He turned his head his red eyes blazing, the vornskrs stopped in their tracks a pained whine emerging from each of them as they slumped to the floor. He turned his attention back to Mara;
‘You have betrayed me Jade, now you will pay.’
Lightning bolts flew from his fingertips hitting Mara squarely in the chest. She cried out in pain as Luke struggled to break the hold pinning him to the rail. Han stood in the doorway watching the scene in horror. Memories of the Mt. Tantiss battle flooded his mind. He watched Mara writhing in pain on the control room floor and saw Luke struggling. Maybe if he could distract Palpaatine for a moment, Luke could break the hold. He stood uncertainly for a moment then closing his eyes his drew his blaster and flung it toward the emperor. Palpaatine flinched for a moment then turned to the offending missile blasting it to pieces. Luke broke away from the railing and hurled himself toward his lightsaber Palpaatine had dropped when he attacked Mara. His fingers brushed the metal before it flew another meter or so out of his reach. Palpaatine turned his angry gaze toward Han using one hand to send a blast of lightning at him. Han screamed as his body was flung through the open door to land with a thump against the wall of the corridor.
Mara blinked blood away from her eyes as she carefully surveyed the scene. She did not change her position at all, hoping Palpaatine would believe she was still unconscious. None of her misplaced loyalty remained she now felt a surging hatred rising in her for the man who so casually played with the lives of others. She knew if she had any chance at all of stopping this twisted clone she needed to act fast. Her eyes focused on Luke’s lightsaber laying a few feet from her left hand. Closing her eyes briefly she felt the force flow through her. The lightsaber flew into her hand and she heard Palpaatine howl in anger. Before he could throw another lightning bolt at her she flung the weapon in a spinning arc. Palpaatine saw it too late and uselessly raised a hand trying to stop it before it sliced neatly through his neck almost severing his head from his shoulders.
Silence suddenly filled the chamber as Luke and Mara stared in a mixture of relief and horror at mutilated remains of Palpaatine. Luke turned to Mara then ran to her side his only thought now was making sure she was okay. Mara gasped as she felt Luke gently probing her injuries. She closed her eyes at his gentle touch and felt the healing force flow from his hands to her body. Turning his head he motioned to Karrde who was soothing the whimpering vornskr’s.
‘Karrde can you check Han?’ Luke said, sudden fear for his brother in law replacing his relief that Mara was alive.
He turned back to Mara seeing her wide pain glazed eyes focused on his face. For the first time her eyes were unguarded and he felt his heart open to the emotion that poured from her. He carefully manoevred her shoulders until he could slide in behind her and rested her head against his chest. He brushed her silky hair back from her brow as he silently vowed that nothing and no-one would come between them again. He felt her fingers hesitantly brush his hand then close around his fingers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. A cough sounded from the doorway, Luke turned to see Karrde standing with a knowing smile on his face;
‘Sorry for interrupting but we need to get Han back to Coruscant.’
Luke nodded, moving to his knees he carefully lifted Mara in his arms. As her head dropped against his shoulder he looked down at the woman he would love, the woman he would live her and die for every moment of his life from that day on. A small smile curled Mara’s lips as felt his love through the force. She finally understood that love was a greater force.
THE END.